Assassin's Creed Black Flag vs Skull and Bones: Which Is the BETTER Pirate Game?
Round 1: Historical Accuracy
20 Real-Life Historical Events In Assassin's Creed Games
It can be tricky to talk about “Assassin’s Creed” and historical accuracy, but generally, a high level of historical accuracy is always seen in the franchise. When Ubisoft gets things wrong, more often than not, this is on purpose to ensure they can tell the story they want to tell against an authentic backdrop. Learning about history is one of the key appeals of the series, after all, and “Black Flag” is no different, as Kenway tours the Caribbean in the company of history’s most notorious pirates. He meets Anne Bonny, Mary Read, Blackbeard, Charles Vane, Ben Hornigold, Bartholomew Roberts, and more, all active during the Golden Age of Piracy. Some liberties with the truth are taken – for instance, Read DID famously dress as a man along with Bonny, but never claimed to be Captain Kidd’s long-lost son – but overall, it’s very close. “Skull and Bones”, on the other hand, is really only considering the vibes of the history it represents. This is a game that isn’t even brave enough to be set in a real year and takes place vaguely in the late seventeenth century. And while France and the Netherlands are, of course, real places, the indigenous communities in the East Indies are not. The Ungwana, the Clan of Fara, the Rempah – none of these societies are real cultures. Considering it wouldn’t be that tricky to do the research into how Europe pillaged the East Indies for all they were worth – and similar levels of research have been hallmarks of “Assassin’s Creed” the entire time it’s existed – this decision is baffling. Some fans were also dismayed to learn that, beyond the tutorial, the British don’t appear – despite the British East India Company already having established settlements by the mid-seventeenth century. Considering “Skull and Bones” doesn’t seem to care about being historically accurate at all, despite being in a very real and fascinating historical setting, this is an easy victory for “Black Flag”. WINNER: Assassin’s Creed IV 1 / Skull and Bones 0
Round 2: Customization
Top 10 Worst Character Customization Systems
One of the main things that makes “Skull and Bones” worthwhile is the extensive customization. You can customize your pirate captain and, to an even greater extent, your ship. There are the basic options like the color schemes of the sails and ship body, as well as your pirate emblem, but you can also add myriad decorations, figureheads, pets, and even add unique fireworks. The downside to this is that there are microtransactions, locking the best cosmetics away behind Ubisoft’s latest premium currency, in this case, gold. You’ll still unlock plenty of vibrant customization optioins through missions and with the regular silver currency, but Ubisoft wouldn’t be Ubisoft without charging you additional money on top of the eye-watering $70 price tag. “Black Flag” is a very different type of game, with a fixed, fully-written and fully-voiced protagonist who has his own journey to go on – a journey you, the player, have no real way to influence. That makes for a much better game and a more compelling story in this case, but it does limit what you can customize. You can’t rename Edward’s ship, the “Jackdaw”, for example, and the sail and color options are limited. He has a lot of outfits to craft and unlock, too, but nothing on the level of “Skull and Bones”. Finally, you can’t really edit Edward or the “Jackdaw’s” loadouts. They have the weapons they’ll always have, and you’ll slowly upgrade to having more of those weapons or better versions – but they’re still, fundamentally, the same. There’s no room for different combat strategies and techniques. Since customization is one of the few things “Skull and Bones” gets right, we’re going to give it a victory here; decking out your frigate a lot of fun. WINNER: Assassin’s Creed IV 1 / Skull and Bones 1
Round 3: Swashbuckling
“Assassin’s Creed” will always be a third-person action series, and the addition of naval combat with “Assassin’s Creed III” only supplemented that. But even in the most naval-heavy game in the series, you still spend just as much time on land as you do at sea. Edward has viewpoints to synchronize, targets to assassinate, animals to hunt, and treasure maps to follow, all backed up by very fun swordplay, platforming, and robust stealth mechanics. This completes the pirate fantasy, since you’re not just tied to a ship, you’re exploring these untouched, tropical islands and experiencing both their beauty and hostility. The pedigree of “Assassin’s Creed” made “Skull and Bones’” lack of meaningful third-person gameplay all the more disappointing. This is a game that has spent a decade in development, building on one of Ubisoft’s most popular and critically acclaimed titles ever, and it removed a key element both of the series that made it and the pirate genre. There is no way to swordfight anybody – a lot of the cosmetics for your character don’t even have weapons, even if they’re purely decorative. It does have treasure hunting, but the maps give away the outpost they’re buried at, a pop-up will always tell you if you’re in the right place, and the ground will start glowing to indicate the treasure before you get to do any real puzzling. You can’t board enemy ships outside of a cutscene; most of the landmasses you’re not able to explore at all; and you can’t battle fellow pirates with swords and pistols. There isn’t even a run button. This is an extremely easy victory for “Black Flag”, since “Skull and Bones” appears to have simply removed huge portions of what made that game so iconic, and replaced them with nothing. WINNER: Assassin’s Creed IV 2 / Skull and Bones 1
Round 4: Naval Combat
Top 10 Best Naval Combat Games
It was Ubisoft Singapore that developed the naval combat for “Assassin’s Creed III”, the first game to feature it as a key element. The system was then perfected in “Black Flag” and “Rogue”, and the idea to translate it into an open world, multiplayer experience was born. As such, the naval combat is something that really shines in “Skull and Bones”. It has to, because that’s basically all there is to do. Ships are faster and more mobile in “Skull and Bones”; you have more options for how to equip and upgrade your ship; and sinking enemy fleets is always satisfying. It’s just a better, more streamlined version of the combat we came to know and love in “Assassin’s Creed”. The bosses are much more tedious than in “Black Flag”, though. They’re easier by a mile, but if you’re playing solo, they’ve got so much health that the fights get long and boring. When “Black Flag” released, its naval combat was mind-blowing, and arguably the best real-time naval combat we’d ever had in a video game. It’s still a blast to go back and play today, and naval combat continues to reappear in “Assassin’s Creed”. As recently as “Odyssey”, sailing, exploration, and combat were a key focus, as you ventured across the Greek archipelago sinking the Spartan and Athenian navies. The faster naval combat in “Odyssey” feels nearer to “Skull and Bones” than “Black Flag” does – though, whether you want it to be faster, or slower and more accurate is up to you, and maybe you’ll prefer the less-arcadey feel of those older games. Ultimately, “Skull and Bones” DOES iterate and improve the naval combat from “Assassin’s Creed”, so we’re giving it another point for just slightly edging out its predecessor. WINNER: Assassin’s Creed IV 2 / Skull and Bones 2
Round 5: Story
Basim's Complete Origin Story | Assassin's Creed Valhalla & Mirage
Perhaps this category is a little unfair since “Skull and Bones” doesn’t actually have a story to speak of. But that’s the main problem, because, from a game this long in development that promises to be a worthy successor to the narrative-heavy “Assassin’s Creed” series, this is phenomenally disappointing. We already knew ahead of release that the campaign had been almost entirely removed, with only a very loose narrative revolving around becoming Scurlock’s most trusted underling, and then leaving to help the Rempah free the East Indies from Dutch control. This is basically it, with repetitive missions and boring cutscenes all building it up to a small number of underwhelming boss battles. It is, undoubtedly, a huge disappointment. The Helm plotline adds another layer, but it’s still no match for a true campaign. “Black Flag”, meanwhile, has one of the best stories in “Assassin’s Creed”. Edward has an entire character arc and journey to go on, as he learns to abandon his pursuit of wealth and glory in favor of the Assassin Brotherhood, joining them and ridding the Caribbean of the Templars oppressing it. Along the way, he also gets caught up in the hunt for the Observatory and the Crystal Skull, which can be used to spy on anybody in the world using only a drop of their blood. This massive power can’t fall into Templar hands, and it’s down to Edward to stop them. The story is emotive, well-written, and memorable, with all those infamous pirates coming to life in a way we’ve rarely seen. It’s no contest. “Black Flag” actually has a story, a good one, while “Skull and Bones”, despite being touted as a quadruple-A release, stripped itself bare. WINNER: Assassin’s Creed IV 3 / Skull and Bones 2 Somewhat unsurprisingly, “Black Flag” has sailed to victory, leaving “Skull and Bones” to flounder and sink to the bottom of the great blue sea. Let us know in the comments what YOU think of Skull and Bones, and whether there’s any saving this ill-fated game.
